Protesters target Embassy of India
Protesters target Embassy of India
JAKARTA (JP): Some 60 Moslem students staged a protest outside the Indian embassy yesterday, denouncing the country's stance on the disputed-land of Kashmir Valley.
Calling themselves the Communication Forum for Moslem Youths, the students condemned the recent "assault" by Indian troops which left 35 Kashmiri Moslem dead and an Islamic shrine destroyed.
Chanting Allahu Akbar (God is great), the students called on the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Conference to intervene and ensure freedom for Kashmiri Moslems.
The students demanded that they be allowed into the embassy to deliver their petition. After two hours of shouting and arguing with embassy officials the students were allowed in.
Komaruddin, who organized the protest, said their condemnation of the clash and the fire that destroyed the mosque in Srinagar, were rejected by the embassy officials.
Instead, the officials charged Pakistani terrorist were behind the incident.
"It's impossible," Komaruddin said. "The Pakistanis are Moslems, there's no way a Moslem would want to burn down a mosque."
Komaruddin quoted the embassy's official as saying that the predominantly-Hindu Indian government, however, has agreed to "rebuild the mosque and set a budget of around Rp 9 billion (approximately US$4 million) for the purpose".
The clash and the burning of the mosque took place on May 10, which coincided with the celebration of the Islamic Day of Sacrifice.
The Indian government has said that the mosque had been burned down by "hired agents" of Pakistan. Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao accused "foreign mercenaries" of setting fire to the mosque in the town of Charar-i-Sharief.
India has a Moslem population of 120 million.
The Indian authorities have repeatedly charged that many of the dozens of Moslem separatist militants who had been holed up in Charar-i-Sharief for two months were from Pakistan or Afghanistan.
During the demonstration yesterday, the students waved placards and unfurled banners. Some of them read "Here, we don't abuse the rights of the minority", "Indonesia supports Kashmiri Moslems" and "India, set Kashmir free".
The three-hour protest, which temporarily disrupted traffic at the Rasuna Said thoroughfare, ended peacefully with the students handing their placards to security personnel and cleaning up the litter they discarded while protesting. (swe)